Week One Reflections

During week one of the course, Assessment in E-Learning we jumped right into using tools that can help teachers assess their students in online course.  The beauty of all the tools we used is that they are not just for an online classroom, all could be used in a traditional classroom as well.  When I work with tech tools in my traditional classroom, I always make sure that I can think of a "plan B."  


Week one of Assessment in E-Learning, had us doing typical week one activities, such as ice breakers! Since I am a firm believer in creating a class environment that feels like a little family, I enjoy a good ice breaker.  I even throw them into my class whenever I have a few minutes.  Sometimes, I like to do "would you rather" questions or a "find someone who"...   The online class icebreaker that we did this week is one I will for sure use in my own classroom.  We had to answer the question, "what movie is your movie?"  We had to summarize the movie and then explain why it was our movie, basically, what is the personal connection to the movie?  


I choose the movie Elf, because as Elf says, "I love smiling. Smiling is my favorite."   I feel that explains how I teach. Ask my students, I frequently say, 'I just love this (fill-in-the-topic).  This is so cool"  or "Ahh this learning explosion is making my heart happy."    I know my seniors think I'm a nerd, but the feedback they give me is often very positive.  Plus, enthusiasm is contagious!  


The other assessment tool we used this week was a survey.  We used Survey Monkey to answer questions about what we already know about technology in the classroom.  This is a neat tool to use.  Plus, teachers can use surveys to assess prior knowledge or in the middle of unit as a formative assessment.  Surveys are a great way for teachers to examine their students learning progression.